Mary Shaffer's Blog

My fantasy novel Wick and Arrow, a fairy tale for grownups loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” makes for a perfect book club read due to its rich imagery and themes that are meant to be deeply pondered.

I’ve put together some discussion questions below, as well as guidance on how to invite the author to make an appearance at your book club!

Lastly, use this discount code for 15% seven books or more: BOOKCLUB

...

Thank you so much to all my friends, family, and fans who attended the launch party for Wick and Arrow on August 10th, 2025, at Pioneer Park in Stillwater, MN. What an amazing time we all had! It was my one and only debut novel launch party, and I think it was the best one I could have possibly had!

...

This 5-star review was originally posted on NetGalley by reviewer Lyre Kestrel. See it also on The Story Graph.

Thank you to Mary Shaffer, Inscape Books, Victory Editing, and Net Galley for this ARC!

⭐️- Personal Preference
I’m thankful I found and requested this book, as it was easily the most beautiful thing I’ve read this entire year. No other book has made me feel so vividly, or cry because of how beautiful it was. This book was exactly the classic fairytale ...

The most frequent question I’m getting as Wick and Arrow becomes available for preorder is, “Who is it for?” Is it for children? Teens? Adults? What is its vibe? What i...

Yesterday was a pretty great day. In the morning I sent the files for my paperback novel off to Bookmobile, an esteemed local bookmaker in Minneapolis. In the afternoon...

I need your help to fund the design and deluxe printing of my folkloric fantasy novel! ...

At long last, Wick and Arrow has a front cover! My strong opinions about what the cover (and the rest of the book design) was supposed to look like is one of the reasons I chose to independently publish my folkloric fantasy novel loosely based on “The Snow Queen.” Because the writing style of this book is a contemporary echo of the quirky, wonder-filled, often pensive storytelling of Tolkien’s immediate predecessors—Hans Christian Andersen, Oscar Wilde, and George MacDonald—I wanted the design t...

Following a strong folkloric tradition in which the lines between the real and fantastic are blurred, the “map” of my fantasy novel’s world is one in which completely fantastical places (such as the Kingdom of the Giants, the Sorry Islands, and the Highest Mountains) are plotted alongside recognizable geographic places (such as Iberia, Anatolia, and Caledonia). Yet the geographic places take on fantastic attributes and the fantastic places bear some resemblance to geographic landscapes, so the r...

The first seed of Wick and Arrow that sprouted in my imagination was its style.

When I write a story, usually the characters are born first; they show me their conflict so I can make a plot out of it. Sometimes I envision a concept first and then discover the characters who fit into it. In this case I began with neither plot nor characters but style. I could hear it, taste it, feel it. I was like a composer who hears a melody first and later writes lyrics to it.

...

I wrote this poem about two years ago in honor of my brother Matt, who took his own life at age 23. I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately, continuing to realize how much my personality is shaped by our childhood friendship. I owe so much to him and I will always miss him.

...